Skill Order

Champion Matchups

Introduction

Lux is a heavily underrated champion and is rarely picked in general. Contrary to popular belief, she is an extremely viable mid due to her skillset and long range abilities. Capable of KO'ing an enemy champion(or multiple) in literally one second, Lux can turn the tides of any fight in a matter of seconds. Lux excels mid-game, dealing insane amounts of AOE damage from a very long range. On the other hand, it is essential that you land your or else you are almost worthless until it comes back up. Lux also has trouble with melee enemy champions who can close a gap with her and shut her down. Sometimes, you are forced to use up your , preventing your >> combo on a champion of choice for a few good seconds.

**Note
I much rather prefer playing Lux in ranked than normal games just because it is draft. Lux is horrible against a counter to her
Pros

Long range

High burst

AOE damage

Spell shield

Cons

High risk/high reward

Exclusively skill shots

Masteries

OUTDATED*
On Lux I run 21/0/9 masteries. These masteries are pretty standard for most AP mids. 21/0/9 gives you the most damage possible while also providing you with mana regen, and a much needed Runic Affinity for longer blue buff durations.I choose improved recall over 1 point in Swiftness because .5% MS bonus is not that important on Lux. Most importantly, you gain 10% magic pen. and deal 6% more damage to targets under 40% health.

If you choose, to help last hit, you can spec into Butcher over Mental Force

Runes

There's a lot of flexibility between which runes can be used. I will list the runes that I think are all good.

Marks: Magic Penetration
Hands down, there are no better marks than magic penetration. The 8.5 magic pen. allows us to achieve the full damage potential that we are trying to achieve.Seals:Flat Mana RegenORMana Regen/lvl
Flat mana regen runes give you a large boost in mana regen from levels 1-6. You want these runes if you use your alot to harass early game. For me, I prefer the Mana Regen/lvl because I play very passively early on.Glyphs: Ability Power/lvl ORFlat Ability Power OR Flat Magic Resist
Just recently, thanks to Sol Invictus, I learned that AP/lvl glyphs give you more AP from level 6 onwards. With that said, I recommend AP/lvl glyphs because you want to reach full damage potential starting at level 6. Laning should be passive and just occasionally harassing. Flat AP glyphs allow you to harass harder early game if you so desire. Flat magic resist runes allow you to take less damage early game. This will leave you at a higher hp in lane, less vulnerable to ganks. Quints:Flat Ability Power
Flat AP quints are essential because it provides the most damage out of all the quints. Lux needs all the damage she can get in order to be able to fully combo someone to death.

Summoner Spells

Flash and Ignite should be used every time. They provide the most utility for Lux.

Explanation:
Flash allows you to escape jungle ganks or when top or jungler is on you in a team fight. Often, AD bruisers have gap closers such as . Flash allows you to create the gap once again, keeping you safe.Flash should rarely be used offensively, unless a teamfight has already been won and you are chasing an enemy who you know you will hit with your
Ignite is essential for Lux. Time and time again, your >> will leave the enemy with a sliver of HP. Ignite is great to secure the kill before you get your . It also reduces healing, preventing the enemy healer from keeping his teammate alive.

Optional:

Useful for pressure bottom lane. Choose teleport over ignite if you don't need ignite to finish people off.

This is what you start your combo with. It is unforgiving if you miss this if you are in lane, as you can't use your other spells until you hit it. The cooldown is very high, so make sure to only use it if you are certain it will hit.

Explanation:
You can use Prismatic Barrier for a variety of different things. I find it is extremely useful when im against a Veigar. If im about to get stunned, I can activate Prismatic Barrier, allowing me to survive Veigar's burst with a sliver of HP. I also use this skill to tank creeps when I have blue buff. If there are a few creeps heading straight to your tower, Prismatic Barrier allows me to tank the creeps without HP loss, reaping in gold. However, you want to max this last, because as Lux you want full damage potential.

E: Lucent SingularityFires an anomaly of twisted light to an area, which slows nearby enemies. Lux can detonate it to damage enemies in the area of effect.

Cost 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130mana
Range 1100

Explanation:
This skill has very long range which is good for harassing in lane. It also reveals the area so you can use it on brushes. I max this first because it is your main damage spell.

R: Finales FunkelnAfter gathering energy, Lux fires a beam of light that deals 300/400/500 (+75% ap) damage to all targets in the area.

Cooldown 80 / 60 / 40 seconds

Cost 100 / 150 / 200 mana

Range 3000

Explanation:

This is the spell that makes Lux who she is. Use it to follow up your Light Binding and Lucent Singularity. With blue buff, the cooldown is only 30 seconds, allowing you to use it usually two times a fight. Once you hit 6, you gain huge kill potential, able to burst down almost anyone

Item Builds

Starting Items:

Core Items:
You want these items no matter what. You get mana regen, hp, and most importantly, pure AP.

Afterwards Items:
If you have trouble staying safe in team fights, you might want to get

Item Explanations

THIS SECTION IS OUTDATED :(

Items that work well with Lux

Two dorans rings most importantly give you the mana regen you need to harass with your . The fact that I take mana regen/lvl yellows strengthens the incentive to pick up two dorans rings for the much needed early-game mana regen. Dorans rings are great early game items because they are very cost effective for a low price.

I choose over for three reasons. 1. Lux is all about burst. Cooldowns don't really matter because you should be 1 shotting your target2. s provide magic pen., which you do need in order to achieve full damage potential.3. You should be getting every blue buff, which already gives you a large amount of cooldown reduction.

The deathcap is the most important item in your build. This item provides you with raw AP, making you a much bigger threat. Usually, before deathcap your >> leaves enemies at a sliver of HP. If you farm well and get your deathcap at around 20-22 minutes, your combo is guarenteed to 1 shot the enemy mid or bottom lane. Getting any other item at this point would not be wise, for raw AP is what Lux needs.

Due to your passive, there is a strong incentive to auto attack your enemies after they are lit up by your or . If you're going to auto attack them, you might as well get a . I get a after my deathcap rather than a because ideally, your combo should have killed your target already. Getting a void staff would just be overkill. With Lich Bane, you can auto attack a different target for large amounts of damage. Also, Lich Bane gives you another source of damage. Lux has very long cooldowns for an AP mid. In order to alleviate this, you can use Lich Bane to spread out your damage output.

After your Lich Bane, now is the time to get that void staff because it's shifting towards late game, and enemies generally get more MR by now. In addition, the tanks will generally become more tankier, allowing them to stick on you easier. With that said, you might be forced to use spells on them, and the void staff definitely helps you deal more damage.

This item is good if the enemy bruisers are fed and can stick on you easily. Ideally, you want to complete your combo on a desired target really quick then activate zhonyas and flash away. This is assuming that if you don't, the enemy bruiser will be in your face until you die, rendering you useless.

At a cheap price, this item allows you to escape a stun or slow that could kill you. However, you should be in the back of your team, safe from CC. I would buy this item if the enemy had a champion that can CC you unexpectedly.

Items that don't work well with Lux

Lux's cooldowns are so long that spell vamp is pretty much useless on her. It would be much more effective spending your gold on a if you are getting hit because of a CC spell.

DFG requires you to get into range before your burst, lets say after you . As opposed to Lich Bane, which requires you to get into range after. This unnecessarily puts yourself in risk to getting caught. It also adds to your burst, which is not what you want. You already have huge burst, a Lich Bane would be a better choice because it add to your DPS after your burst combo. Also, Lich bane is a better item because you don't have to hit your desired target. You can auto anyone near you just to add that bit of damage for your team. The cooldown on Lich Bane is 2 seconds, so even if you cast , you have the chance to add to your DPS.

Unless you are playing dominion, blue buff should provide you with all the CDR you need. It's a waste of gold to spend it on CDR as Lux.

Your already provides you with a slow. Even so, you should start with your anyways, snaring them in position. Furthermore, even if we disregarded that, s is only good on champions with low cooldowns, basically the opposite of Lux.

Items that could work

In theory, looks like a great item for Lux. Because of Lux's long range, she should rarely die and should only be increasing in kills, not deaths. This is very true, so getting a large amount of stacks should be easy. But for me, I dislike the idea of the possibility of losing AP. The option of getting soulstealer is a sound one but one that I personally dislike.

When To Play Lux **IMPORTANT**

Lux is a unique champion that doesn't do well in every game. Make sure to analyze the enemy champion picks in champ. select before deciding to play Lux. The most important things to pay attention to are:
[1.]The enemy's MID
[2.]The enemy's JUNGLER
[3.]The enemy's TOP

MID

Knowing what champion your opponent is playing middle is crucial. If they pick anybody who can live through your burst I highly suggest you don't play Lux if you really want to win. Champs such as are NOT a good matchup for you. With that said, picking Lux before you see the enemy's middle is a very dangerous move.

JUNGLER

All junglers are a threat to you, but most of them won't bother you too much. The ones that I despise are champs that can gap close then stick on you. are examples of this.

TOP

What your enemy picks for top lane shouldn't concern you too much. I rarely take into consideration the enemy's top lane when deciding whether to play Lux or not. However, if it seems like the enemy has a really tanky front line(Jungle+Top), I might reconsider.

Summary

Create a checklist for yourself to decide if Lux would be a good pick or not.

Does Lux have trouble laning against their mid?

Do they have any deadly gap closers that will focus you?

Do they seem too tanky of a team to be playing Lux?

P.S. This child will wreck you. Don't play Lux if she's picked

Early Game

You do not want to lane against champions like and because they are simply too tanky. They also can push the lane really hard, preventing you from controlling your lane and making you lose cs. The whole point of Lux is to literally kill your enemy mid in one second, and this only works on regular AP mids.

Play passive Stay back and focus on farming with your Auto attack. You can throw a couple of s at your enemy, but this is not your priority. Make sure you dont use up too much mana. You should aim to farm, but harass the opponent with your when you can. Make sure to auto attack them after you light them up to win the trade. Your goal is to be in a better state than the opponent for two reasons.

1. You have high kill potential if you are getting ganked or recieve a gank

2. You have the chance to pick off your opponent if a fight occurs elsewhere

Ideally, you want to set up your midgame, which is where you shine, with a strong early game. Be cautious of ganks, I don't run any armor runes, so at level 1 I have 12 armor. This makes you a very appealing target for junglers. On the other hand, Lux is a great mid lane to gank for. If your jungler has a stun, chain it with your and it's a guaranteed kill. Once i go back for my first buy, from then on I like to keep the enemy wraiths perma-warded. Not only does this sight enemy junglers but it often lands you an easy kill once you hit 6.(Will talk about in Mid Game)

Mid Game

Once you hit 6 is when the fun begins. You are able to burst down anyone with your combo which is > > > Auto attack > Ignite(if needed). You should be getting blue buff, so use your and to help you farm.

It is important that you are aware of skirmishes before your enemy mid is. For example, if you are comfortably farming your lane, and you notice that both junglers gank bot at the same time, this gives you the opportunity to kill your enemy mid lane. Position yourself in places like so.

If you are on the red teamIf you are on the blue team
**If you have it warded

Only do this if you know that the enemy mid will run towards bottom and not stay in lane.Of course, if you know they will stay in lane, just run bottom or stay as well.

These spots are just a few of many, but they make it really easy to land your on your opponent. Basically, you can do this anywhere. You need to stand in the opponent's fog of war, and have a destination for him to go. So if there is a big fight bottom, you know your opponent will be running in a straight lineto bottom, unless he knows you are waiting for him. But most of the time they assume you ran bottom as well, allowing for an easy , followed with and

Late Game

Lux is still very strong late game. Hopefully, you were able to snowball midgame and you should have a good amount of gold over your enemy mid. Again, you want to stay behind your front line and wait for the perfect opportunity to throw that . Most likely, however, the enemy's top and jungler will be tankier by now, able to pressure you to waste your or burn flash. With that said, be more cautious and revert back to that passive playstyle that you did early game.
Although you want to be passive in team fights, Lux can also start a team fight by catching enemies with followed by and . Make sure you are safe when you do this. It IS NOT worth it if you end up getting caught and dying.

Your should have a 30 second cooldown by now, allowing you to use your >> as poke if you are pushing a tower, or land an unexpected . The downside is that often, I find that it baits my team in Solo Queue into unwanted fights. For example, if my team is pushing a tower, and I am able to land on their jungler under their tower, I follow up with my >, lighting them up to maybe around 10-20% health. My intentions of this is so that the enemies back off, giving us a free tower. Not only do we get a free tower, but by the time the tower dies, my should be back up for the next fight. However often, it acts as a unintentional que for my teammates to initiate a fight under their tower. Not only is this under their tower, but all of my spells are on cooldown, making me useless for the duration of the fight. With that said, make sure to communicate with your team and tell them what your intentions are.

Team Fights

In team fights, you want to make sure you combo the enemy mid,AD carry or even support. If you successfully land your combo on these squishies, you are giving your team a huge advantage. Landing your >> on a squishy and 1 shotting them is much more effective than landing it on a tanky enemy with tons of MR. If you land your combo on a squishy, they literally contribute 0 damage for the whole fight. Because of this, it is basically a 5v4 in your favor. The top priorities should be the AP mid and AD carry. Eliminating one of these champions early on in the fight should guarantee your team to win the fight.

On the other hand, if you use your combo on someone tanky(usually top or jungler), you render yourself useless for the whole fight. You can still use and , but your is what makes the combo so deadly. Without your , the enemy mid will deal atleast 2x more damage than you, possibly putting the fight in their favor.

In terms of positioning, you want to stay behind your front line and wait for the perfect moment to followed up with your and . Don't let the enemy bruisers get to you, or else you will be forced to use your or flash. If you are forced to to get away, this ruins your entire combo and puts your team at a huge disadvantage. If I only had to use one, I would rather use my flash because your is crucial to start your combo. Unfortunately, good bruisers usually force you to use both, making you almost completely useless to your team. I cannot stress enough the importance of playing safe and staying far back in team fights. Luckily, Lux has extremely long ranges on all her spells, easing the struggle to play passively and accordingly.

J Frenchy, I found this guide extremely useful. It's helped me get a good idea of how to use and build Lux, and now I main her. While the description of the Lux combo is slightly outdated (it is now most often Light Binding > Lucent Singularity (cast) > Final Spark > autoattack > Lucent Singularity (detonate) Â»Â» autoattack, since her ult both pops and renews her passive), and while the masteries could be updated, it still seems to be perfectly applicable.

I totally disagree with your opinion about Morello. Lux with teleport flash, Morellonomicon to apply multiples heal reduction which is still useful against some comps, and coupled to blue-buff, you reach 40% CDR, 1 laser every 23sec at lvl 16. I go (Tear)->Morello->DC->Zhonya's->Voidstaff->Archangel/Lichbane with boots, 75% of carriness.

Hi, I've only just picked lux back up since playing her as a supp early S2 pre level 30. This guide is brilliant. However, would Liandry's Torment be a good item on Lux? It's on Riots recommended items in game but I haven't seen it in a guide so wanted some advice pleaese